Quick Links

Member Thoughts: Why I Ride

This
year my husband and I participated in a 160-mile bike ride to benefit the
National Multiple Sclerosis Society over CPA Day of Service weekend. We
typically participate in a “watershed clean-up” event around the same time as
the annual Day of Service, but I’ve never connected the two because our mindset
is there needn’t be a single day or week to give back to one’s community.

So
how did I decide to participate in this year’s MS-160, and why that event? It’s
been 12 years since we last participated in a long-distance charity ride; in
fact, the last time we rode, prior to this year, I was just under three months
pregnant with our oldest child and the ride was “only” 150 miles long (175 with
the “bonus” miles, which we completed). We opted to come out of charity-ride
retirement this year to celebrate each of us turning 50 with relatively good
health, and also to set an example for our kids.

To
back up a bit, I’ve always been an outdoor sports enthusiast. Both my husband
and I were cyclists before we met, me as more of a wandering weekend rider and
he as a superlatively dedicated one. I had a pretty horrible bicycle wreck
about a year before he and I met, which left my spinal cord partially severed —
I had no feeling in my legs, and walking was an adventure. I was still living
in southern New Jersey at the time, and eventually, my cycling injury led me to
the University of Pennsylvania’s neurosurgery team. Penn’s team determined I
needed to replace the lower half of my spine with titanium or I’d never be able
to lead a normal life again — no walking, no hiking, no biking. I had the
surgery, and one year later I participated
in my first distance bicycle ride, a 150-mile ride, to prove to myself and any
anyone else paying attention that all was well again in my world. We joined the
University of Pennsylvania’s MS-150 bike team, in gratitude for their great
work in patching me up.

Which
brings the question, why support the MS Society? There are many organizations
sponsoring many long-distance charity bike rides. Why this one? And yes, it’s
true — there are, and we could choose one with a lower registration fee. We
could also choose a shorter ride that would require less of a training
commitment. But this is the distance ride we’ve committed to supporting. I lost
a cousin to MS. Her progression was slow and steady and her frustration over
her body’s betrayal and her determination to maintain her dignity and quality
of life was clear. For more than 20 years, my husband had to sit idly by and
watch a close coworker come into the office after being diagnosed. First, he would walk in with a smile, then one day he
walked in with a cane. Then the cane gave way to a walker, and eventually, the walker became a wheelchair —
manual and then electric. And then he couldn’t work anymore.

Knowing
that we couldn’t directly help people we cared about was frustrating. So, we
ride because we can, for everybody with a family member or friend who has been
diagnosed and is fighting to live a normal life. The BikeMS organization stages
rides nationwide which, according to their website, “raises more money than any
other cycling event for any other cause. To date, Bike MS cyclists “have raised
more than $1 billion so people with MS can live their best lives.” Simply put,
the proceeds from this ride will support that mission to live one’s best life,
for others coming after my cousin and his co-worker. And so we ride for them.

My
understanding is there were nearly 8,000 riders this year — 400
on our team alone. We faced some weather-related challenges on Day 1, but Day 2
gave us beautiful clear skies. We met our combined goal of raising $4,000 (in
recognition of the 400,000 active MS cases in the US currently); and I need to
thank VSCPA’s Connect community for affording a platform to solicit
contributions to this cause, and to those who helped us meet our goal. The
riders this year included many folks diagnosed with MS, and at least one Paralympic athlete.
In years past, we’ve shared our road space with a 90-year old woman we did
not see this year.
And we are looking forward to riding again, in 2017, also and still for the
University of Pennsylvania team. Because we can.